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Off again, on another trip!

The
biggest festival of the year – Diwali – approaches, and, more than anything, we
look forward to the vacation that comes in its stead. We usually celebrate the
festival at home, lighting lamps and bursting crackers, but this year, as you
know already, we can’t celebrate the festival, and are free to travel.

We
have chosen to travel into interior Maharashtra this year, combining spiritual
destinations with something different. Our main destination will be Nanded, to
which I have managed to get train tickets. From then on, it will be us depending
on local buses to get around and see as much of the places around as we can. On
my radar are Aundha Nagnath and Parli Vaijnath, two important Shaivite shrines
in Maharashtra, which also figure on the list of 12 Jyotirlingas. If all goes
well, I will be on the verge of completing my Jyotirling circuit soon.

Also
on my list is the Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan at Shegaon, a place I have heard
lots of, but haven’t yet visited, and that is where we plan to be for Diwali.

After
all that spirituality, it is time for us to relax and enjoy a bit of nature
before we head back to the concrete jungle, so my final destination will be the
Lonar Crater Lake. This is yet another place which I have planned to visit for
a long, long time, and am keeping my fingers crossed, hoping it all works out.

This
is slated to be a budget trip, trying to keep costs under control, since we
have already travelled much more than expected this year (and spent a lot more
too, if I may add!). Besides, we are also trying to sneak in some more travel
before the year is out! How far we succeed depends on whether we manage to keep
to our resolution to avoid hiring vehicles and travel completely by local
buses. While that really isn’t as daunting as it sounds, remember that we have
Samhith in tow, so it is indeed a challenge. We tried it from Mumbai to Nashik, and were
quite successful, but this trip is much longer, and thus more of a challenge.
We have booked a few tickets online, so those parts of the journey are already
fixed, but the rest has been left to chance, and the efficiency of MSRTC!

I
will be away for just over a week, and meanwhile, have tried to schedule posts
for most days. Enjoy reading them, keep coming back.... and wish you all a very
Happy Diwali!